I am doing some research into opening an Italian branch of a UK Ltd business. The italian branch will operate locally and employ italians. A new SRL (italian limited company) is 1 obvious option but I am interested to hear if anyone has used ONLY their UK Ltd company corporate structure to operate in Italy and con share their experience about either of the following italian solutions a) opened a “sedi secondarie” a full secondary head office which should be registered in the “Registre Imprese” Camera di Commercio (Italian Chambers of Commerce) OR b) opened a “unità locali” like a small office which only needs registering at the “REA Repertorio economico e amministrativo” (sub category of “Registre Imprese”).
Please outline :
A: Difference between a) or b).
B: Costs of solution a) or b).
C: Benefits : tax& operational of a) and/or b) compared to the SRL option
Please focus on the corporate structure and tax issues. This is not a question about employment in italy or INPS or INAIL in Italy.

Comments

Many companies do not open a new.co for the following reasons:
1) the opening of a limited company (s.r.l.) requires at least 15000 euro (10000 euro as start-up capital; 5000/7000 as notary fees and taxes). If the members of the S.R.L. are foreigners they must apply for an Italian tax code before the notary can stipulate company contract (atto costitutivo) and statute (otherwise the members must be Italians).
2) they want to explore the italian market, while the structure of a new.co is best suited for a long-term business/activities;
3) it is possible obtain same purpose with the opening of what you qualify full secondary office that cost less in terms of creation (instead, taxation is very close). A secondary office directly work under the control of the head company but with an adequate level of autonomy (if you want they have). Otherwise the office (including the people working for) have to be registered in order to know that the foreign company works in Italy.

If your purpose is only to promote your business without direct business you can open a small office that has very low costs (and no taxation). You even think at an Italian business agent in company form authorized to close your contracts. However, if you want an italian new.co you have many options: an SRL is only one of them (depends of your business and what you exactly want). Without other information I can’t go deep!